SMM October 16 News:
Second-Life Battery Market This Week:
This week, second-life battery market prices remained generally stable. Considering current supply-demand feedback, the supply side, affected by the September-October peak season, saw increased production from battery cell manufacturers, providing some support to the number of cells available for second-life applications. On the demand side, acceptance of higher prices was low. However, on the cost side, adjustments to cobalt export policies in the DRC led to a significant rise in cobalt salt prices, which in turn drove up prices for ternary cathode materials and new battery cells for well-known mobile phones. Recently, lithium chemical prices remained relatively stable, and some enterprises, considering cost control, gradually shifted their short-term purchasing focus toward LFP cells. Meanwhile, previous price increases had already reached the psychological upper limit for downstream enterprises. The combined effect of these factors helped maintain stable prices in the second-life battery market.
Based on an analysis of the current supply-demand pattern and cost transmission, overall demand in the second-life battery market is expected to remain relatively stable in the near term, with very limited room for price increases and no significant fluctuations anticipated. However, due to the lag in cost transmission, the current cobalt price increase has not yet fully passed through to the end-use second-life application segment. Once cobalt price increases are fully transmitted to the end-use market, prices for ternary B-grade battery cells for well-known mobile phones are expected to rise to some extent.
SMM New Energy Research Team
Wang Cong 021-51666838
Ma Rui 021-51595780
Feng Disheng 021-51666714
Lü Yanlin 021-20707875
Zhou Zhicheng 021-51666711
Lei Yue 021-20707873
